The Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS ($1,499.99) is a telephoto zoom lens for Sony's full-frame mirrorless camera system. A 70-200mm zoom is the go-to lens of many an event shooter, and this is a great one in terms of sharpness, but it does show some distortion through its range and it doesn't open up to f/2.8, which is a necessity for pros. But it also doesn't carry the $3,000 price tag that the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 for Alpha SLRs does. It's a solid performer, and a good option if you can live with an f/4 aperture, but some distortion keeps it from earning an even higher rating and our Editors' Choice award.

The 70-200mm works with full-frame bodies like the Alpha 7R, but can also be used with APS-C bodies like the Alpha 6000. When paired with a camera with a smaller sensor, its field of view is cropped, matching that of a 105-300mm zoom on a full-frame body. The lens features an optical stabilization system, which I found to be quite effective in tests. I was able to capture a sharp, handheld shot at 200mm with a 1/15-second shutter speed with the image stabilization system active; under the same conditions a 1/15-second shot was noticeably blurry with stabilization disabled. There's a physical switch on the barrel to toggle stabilization, as well as one to change the between stabilization modes—Mode 1 is for shooting with the camera held steady, and Mode 2 is for those times when you're panning the camera to shoot a moving subject.

The other control switches and buttons relate to focus. There's an AF/MF toggle, as well as a focus limiter switch that allows the lens to hunt over its entire focus range, or limits it to 3 meters to infinity. Three circular buttons, located between the zoom ring and manual focus ring, lock focus at its current point when held. Both control rings are covered in a hard rubber with ridges. The autofocus system is snappy when paired with a full-frame Alpha, and the lens is compatible with the APS-C Alpha 6000's ultra-fast focus and burst-shooting system, which makes that combination appealing for wildlife and sports photographers.

The lens itself measures in at 6.9 by 3.2 inches (HD), weighs 1.9 pounds, and supports 72mm front filters. Adding the included reversible lens hood increases the height by about 3 inches. It's on the large size when paired with a mirrorless camera, but it does ship with a tripod collar. If you're handholding the lens, you'll want to cradle it with your left hand. An f/2.8 zoom that covers the same range is going to be bigger; the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 SLR lens, which can be mounted on an Alpha mirrorless camera via the LA-EA4 adapter, is close to 3 pounds in weight and measures 7.75 by 3.5 inches.

I used Imatest to check the sharpness and distortion characteristics when paired with the full-frame Alpha 7, and shot the sample images in this review with the Alpha 7S. At 70mm f/4 it scores 2,654 lines per picture height on our center-weighted sharpness test, and even the outer edges of the frame resolve 1,900 lines, which is in excess of the 1,800 lines we use to mark an image as sharp. Narrowing the aperture improves the overall score; the lens shows 2,671 lines at f/5.6 and peaks at 2,993 lines at f/8. There is some barrel distortion, about 1.6 percent, which is just enough to be noticeable in images. If you use Lightroom as your workflow application, the distortion can be removed with a single click, as the software includes a profile for this lens.

At 135mm the distortion turns to pincushion, which makes straight lines appear to bow inward rather than the outward bulge evident in barrel distortion. It shows about 1.5 percent, which is just barely noticeable in field conditions. Sharpness is still strong at 2,796 lines at f/4, with edges that are almost as sharp as the center (2,500 lines). You'll see marginal improvement by narrowing the aperture, with peak performance at f/8 (2,841 lines).

The lens exhibits the most distortion (2.4 percent pincushion) at 200mm. That's enough that it won't take a keen eye to notice it, so you'll want to make sure to correct for it via software. There's no issue with sharpness; the lens manages 2,496 lines at f/4, with edges that top 1,850 lines, and improves as the aperture narrows, peaking at 2,600 lines at f/8.

The Sony FE 70-200mm F4 G OSS is a serious lens, and another sign that Sony is committed to making its full-frame mirrorless system one that's known for image quality. It's sharp throughout its range, it includes a focus limiter function, and its image stabilization system is a boon for handheld shooting. It's not an f/2.8 lens, which is a must for many pros, but it's not priced like one either. If you do need the extra light and shallower depth of field that a wider aperture provides, you can use the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom for Alpha SLRs with a Sony mirrorless body via an adapter. But that lens isn't optically stabilized, is heavier, and—most importantly—costs twice as much.

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Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off when he borrowed his father's Hasselblad 500C and light meter in 2007. He honed his writing skills at retailer B&H Photo, where he wrote thousands upon thousands of product descriptions, blog posts, and reviews. Since then he's shot with hundreds of camera models, ranging from pocket point-and-shoots to medium format...
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